HAPPY HOUR 619 - Shalikashvili demands: END DADT WITH EXEC ORDER, Hate Crimes, Census DOMA challenge, NY, CA, IN, WA, AK, and I pick a fight with Will and Grace creator Max Mutchnick

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IN.D.C.|| Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, John M. Shalikashvili, calls for an Executive Order ending DADT!  The Senate Judiciary Committee will FINALLY hold a hearing on the Hate Crimes bill next week.  2010 Census Changes Lauded By Reps Baldwin, Israel, Frank and Polis.  House LGBT Equality Caucus Vice Chair Shakowsky's open letter to the LGBT community is AMAZING!  WHITE/HOUSE/WATCH:  We seem to be sending the right message--DOJ To Meet With GLAD, Lambda Legal, Others Over DOMA Challenges.  Robert Gibbs has answered questions about accurately counting LGBT Americans in the Census... FINALLY!  More WH damage control -- holding conf. call with LGBT DNCers on Monday.

STATE2STATE|| Marriage Equality Work Still Underway in NEW YORK: Action Needed.  Westboro To Picket Gay NYC Synagogue.  NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn: New York Marriage Equality "Up In The Air".  In CALIFORNIA, SF City Attorney Files Amicus Brief On Behalf Of Federal Marriage Suit.  Arnold Schwarzenegger Appoints Openly Gay Judge.  In INDIANA, stupidity rises to the highest ranks, even in the gay community itself:  Indiana Equality opposes ENDA: Calls it "segregation".  In WASHINGTON, Seattle may have to release the names of employees that belong to the LGBT affinity group--this is absolutely ABYSMAL!  Gays and lesbians rely on these groups for protection--releasing the names could mean harassment and violence against them.  In ALASKA, prospects are dim for Anchorage non-discrimination law. 

PINK|BUCK||  With almost half a century past since gays first began to demand recognition in the workplace and society, its not surprising that there are more out gays in the world of retired persons than ever before--so AARP has developed the Prism Network to help communicate better with their LGBT members!

OFF/THE/MAP|| Anderson Cooper gets a visit from the mothership--Richard Simmons comes on.

FINALLY, on the state of Pride... I totally understand why people get a little 'unnerved' from the images of frivolity at Pride festivals around the nation, that they want to shut down Pride and put up in front of the media all of the boring mainstream gays.  Sure its better PR... then again, its not going to make the 5 o'clock news either.  Which is fine, we don't need to be on the 5 o'clock news for partying--just for message.  However, I hate the gay-on-gay hate!  I'm proud of my queeny or over-butch brothers and sisters.  After all this time, I really doubt this is what America thinks represents all gay people anymore.  We've had so many prominent gay people out there--T.R. Knight, Lance Bass, Rupert Everett, David Hyde Pierce--who have come out and shown that gay people are as boring and sleep-inducing as anyone.  I doubt there are any Americans left who still think all gays are drag queens and leather daddies.  I hate pushing our brothers and sisters to the margins because they don't represent "our best face."  These are human beings.  They are being who they are and seeking acceptance and love.  They get to really just let loose once a year.  The rest of the year we shove them back in the closet and pretend they're not there.  Why the hell not let them have a party?  Why the hell not join them out there in the parade?  While I thank Max Mutchnick for his 'fearless' and historical achievement of getting gays portrayed on mainstream TV on a regular basis with Will and Grace, I hardly agree with him.  If Max's problem is with the media focusing on one element of Pride, then maybe his beef is with the media.  Leave the little twinks alone!  Pride is Pride because we come out once a year and show ALL of our true colors.  Max, if you don't like it, stay home.  Nobody likes a party pooper anyway.  Alex Blaze of one of my favorite blogs, Bilerico, has a great response for Max:  "If you want a movement you will have to own it!"

OURstory|| ...speaking of screaming drag queens, and the face of gay folk that may be less media-friendly, the 'normal' 'mainstream' boring gays were too chicken shit to fight back in 1969.  They were too scared and comfortable, because they already fit in and noone asked any questions, so they went about their miserable bachelor lives with fleeting glimpses of relationships with heaping helpings of self-loathing and despair.  THEN a bunch of drag queens and twinks and hippies said "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH" and said, "If those boring, mainstream, normal queers with a shred of clout aren't going to help us, then we'll take it upon ourselves--the lowly, despised, hated, obvious gays with ZERO clout--to HELP OURSELVES!" and they threw some rocks and the rest is history.  40 years later, boring, mainstream respectable gays are getting married in 6 states, Civil Unions in 3 more, and Domestic Partnerships in half a dozen others.  Their unions are recognizes in one state and one district.  It all started with some drag queens and dykes and twinks and hippies--marginalized, hated by their own kind--and one hot June night--the night that Judy Garland was buried--at the Stonewall Inn on Christopher St. in New York City.  40 years later, the Stonewall Riots Police Reports have been published!

TEN YEARS LATER, a very out and proud man who made no bones about the diversity of the queer community was shot and killed after making history as the first openly gay San Francisco city Supervisor.  Watch The Times of Harvey Milk--an incredible film--in its entirety on YouTube.

TOAST TO THE FARM BOIS I WORKED WITH TODAY... THANK GOD FOR WRANGLER JEANS!